Artist
William Wegman (American, born 1943)American, born 1943
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Before/On/After: Permutations I
Date1972, printed 1991
MediumGelatin silver prints
DimensionsImage (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Sheet (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Mount (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Frame (outer): 38 13/16 × 39 × 1 7/16 in. (98.6 × 99 × 3.7 cm)
Sheet (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Mount (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Frame (outer): 38 13/16 × 39 × 1 7/16 in. (98.6 × 99 × 3.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2019.182.A-.G
Non exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Conceptual art, making the heady experimental form accessible and fun. With Man
Ray acting as the silent and visually flexible “straight man” (or “straight
dog”) in their photographic performances, Wegman could provide the comic
relief. Here, the duo confidently demonstrates the possibilities of a small
set of shapes with linked positions: circle means before; triangle means on;
and square means after. Permutations, a play on Variations (a
common title for painted Geometric Abstractions), reduces abstract art to the
level of a cute dog trick.
Provenance[Texas Gallery, Houston]; purchased by MFAH, 2019.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
William Wegman
1971, printed 2011
Gelatin silver prints
2019.184.A,.B
William Wegman
1970
Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony CV 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound
2019.402.1
Mark Klett
August 17, 1986
Gelatin silver prints
89.289
William Bradford
c. 1873
Albumen silver prints
96.626.A-.C